A Confession of Feelings
by Stardust Imaginings
Summary: Ned is about to become the next Mayor of Whoville but there is something important he needs to ask Sally first. One-shot.


**A/N: This is my first attempt at writing romance. It was kind of a hard genre to write for but I think this turned out okay in the end. I always liked Ned and Sally's relationship in the film. It would've been neat to see how these two first met! ;) Hence, this little plot bunny was born!**

**I do not own Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears A Who! If I did, Jojo would've had his own song! (I mean seriously, the studio casts Jesse McCartney as Jojo and he doesn't even get his own song?! Blasphemy!)**

**A Confession of Feelings**

The scent of freshly fallen leaves was strong in the warm autumn air as the ending to another peaceful day in Whoville slowly drew to an end. The trees swayed gently in the breeze. Rays of light cut through the thinning foliage onto the worn path in the forest.

The edge of the forest ended to reveal a beautiful field of flowers stretching on into the horizon. The colorful petals of the various tulips, roses, clovers, and forget-me-nots fluttered and danced in the wind. The sun sank toward the horizon as the evening drew near. Distant laughter echoed softly through the meadow as two figures came into view. A young Who boy was grinning from ear to ear and running clumsily along, dragging his companion along by the hand.

"Ned! Please, we've got to get back now! We'll be late!" the girl protested, the laughter in her voice derailing the seriousness of her words.

The young girl was dressed in a pale blue skirt and a white blouse. Her slender tan fingers pulled away from her friend's firm grip as she stopped to catch her breath, a large smile on her face. Her chestnut hair sat atop her head in a neat ponytail. Her short bangs blew in the light breeze accenting her dark brown eyes. The girl looked to be no older than 19 with light tan-brown fur to match her chocolate eyes.

She was a Who named Sally O' Mally, the daughter of Whoville's finest doctor, Dr. O'Mally, in the microscopic town of Whoville (which, quite surprisingly, resides within a small speck of dust, hardly visible to a human's eye).

A mischievous laugh met the grinning Whos' ears.

"But I haven't shown you the best part yet! We're almost there! Look! See that hill over there?" Ned asked excitedly, pointing toward the tallest hill directly in front of them.

Sally looked over at the beautiful sight. The top of the hill was completely covered in purple forget-me-nots. A lone willow tree stood proudly right in the center. Lilac flowers dangled heavily from its thin white branches as they swayed gently in the warm breeze of the summer evening.

"Like it?"

"Ned, it's beautiful!" Sally exclaimed, a look of delight shining in her eyes.

Ned grinned broadly as he walked up beside her.

Today was a very special day. Today was the day Ned would inherit his father's job as the Mayor of Whoville. The celebration was now only hours away and Ned wanted to spend the last few hours he had of simply being Ned McDodd with the one person he had had a crush on since kindergarten.

And on the eve of his inauguration as the new Mayor of Whoville, just before the celebration that his father had planned for months beforehand was to commence, Ned had convinced his childhood friend to come with him, away from prying eyes, to a secret, private place, to ask her something he'd always been too scared to ask her before then.

As they stood there, Sally admiring the romantic setting, Ned noticed the sun beginning to set behind the distant hills.

"Come on." he said grasping her hand and gently pulling her up the hill.

Sally smiled at her best friend, secretly enjoying the feel of his strong hand against her own as they climbed up the steep hill until they were standing before the great tree. Sally carefully picked a cluster of lilacs, smelling its sweet fragrance and looking to all the world like an angel in the pale twilight colors of the setting sun.

He loved her so much and he wanted to tell her. He had already waited long enough. _He needed to tell her_. Before the ceremony. Before he had to accept the heavy burden of becoming the Mayor of all Whoville. Something in the back of his lovesick mind kept telling him that if he did not tell her how much she meant to him then and there and the ceremony started and ended and he still had not told her then she would never know.

He needed to tell her. Right now.

"Ummm, Sally?" Ned asked quietly, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

"Hmmm?" Sally turned back to face her friend, curiosity written clearly on her face.

"Could we sit down for a sec?" Ned gestured to the soft bed of lilac petals lying under the tree.

"Sure." Sally smiled taking her hand in his as she pulled him down to sit next to her underneath the tree.

"Well, umm, you see, the reason I wanted to bring you here, was to, um, to, uh…" Ned stumbled around the words, wringing his hands and staring at the ground, as he tried to collect his thoughts into one coherent sentence.

Sally smiled at her friend's sudden anxious behavior.

"It's okay, Ned. I know you're going to be a great mayor! All of Whoville is going to love you when your dad passes the Mayoral Crest down to you! He has so much confidence in you!" Sally said proudly.

"That's not what I'm talking about." Ned interrupted his tone suddenly very serious.

Sally stopped, a little surprised at the urgency in his voice.

He gripped her hand in his, and bit his lip, his eyes downcast and worried. The right words simply weren't coming but he wanted to say something to break this tense silence.

"Sally, do you remember that trip we took to Sunset Falls a year ago?"

Sally gripped his hand tighter, her expression grim.

"Of course I do, Ned. I almost lost you that day. How could I ever forget that?" Sally said softly.

"You saved my life that day." Ned whispered looking up at her.

"Oh Ned." Sally murmured pulling her best friend into a tight hug.

"I'm just glad I was there for you. I could never forgive myself if something happened to you." she murmured quietly, burying her face in his warm chest.

Sally felt Ned press closer to her, nuzzling the top of her head and running his hand soothingly up and down her back.

"Since then, I've been wanting to tell you something. Something important that I discovered after I woke up on that shore to find you leaning over me, caring for me. _Saving me_." Ned spoke softly pulling away to look at her.

Realization slowly dawned on Sally. Ned wasn't worrying about the ceremony at all, it was something much more important. Something personal. A thought came to Sally's mind that made her heart race as she continued to stare at Ned's worried face.

"See, I really wanted to tell you this earlier, months ago really, but I didn't know how to say it." the soon-to-be mayor cast his eyes to the ground again, his resolve failing somewhat.

"What Ned? What is it? Is something wrong?" Sally asked suddenly concerned it was something bad.

"No, no! Nothing's wrong, it's the complete opposite actually! It's just, uh….oh, I don't know how to say it." Ned faltered, sighing deeply and fiddling distractedly with a clover in the grass.

"It's okay Ned. I think I understand what you're trying to say." Sally said softly tilting her head down to meet his gaze.

The sudden remark surprised him as his gaze jerked from the ground to her deep chocolate eyes, all his jumbled thoughts falling through the cracks of his confused mind.

"You do?" was all he managed to say before soft lips met his as she leaned in close, her eyes closed.

Wide blue eyes stared in stunned surprise as she slowly pulled away. A soft giggle escaped Sally's lips both from her sudden bold move and from some part of her that felt a little self-conscious at having finally kissed her life-long crush for the first time. She had dreamed of this moment ever since she was a little girl but now finally taking that step and crossing that line, it almost felt unreal.

The young mayor continued to gape, completely speechless until Sally began to wonder if maybe she had been a little too hasty in kissing him. Her smile faltered. Was it wrong of her to display her affection for her friend so suddenly? Why wasn't he saying anything?

"_Maybe I shouldn't have done that_." Sally thought suddenly feeling very foolish, the brunette teen looked down embarrassed.

"I-I'm sorry, I-I don't know what I was doing." Sally stammered her fists grasping the hem of her skirt anxiously when suddenly, she felt a soft hand cup her chin, lifting her head up.

Ned was smiling, his big puppy eyes gazing lovingly at the beautiful Who. A blush crept across Sally's cheeks as she looked into his sea blue eyes.

The Mayor wrapped his arms lovingly around her, pulling himself closer to her, gently kissing her back. Surprise turned to happiness as Sally shut her eyes, wrapping her arms around him in a loving embrace, deepening the kiss. She ran her slender fingers through his hair feeling his hands moving up and down her back. Her body tingled at the wonderful touch. She loved feeling him against her, his smell, his touch, everything about him made her want more.

Her mouth played with his as she pulled him down to the ground until she was lying on top of him. She murmured in delight kissing him again and again breaking it off only to come back again full force, her hands caressed his lean waist prompting a shiver of delight from the Who beneath her. He gripped her arms tightly, feeling the weight of her body press down upon his, his mouth never leaving hers, both never letting go of the other as they lie there under the shadow of the willow tree, completely oblivious to the world around them.

Eventually, the need for air slowly brought the couple back to reality. They pulled away, breathing heavily.

"Wow." Ned whispered breathlessly a huge smile on his face, his eyes closed, their foreheads touching.

Sally smiled as she pulled away to look at him. The relief and joy showed so clearly on his face. His blue eyes were shining with unshed tears as he gazed lovingly at her. She felt her own eyes grow moist as she smiled happily at him.

She could never understand why the other girls in high school always hated the mayor's son and claimed he was a loser and a moron when all she could see was the most handsome, kindest, funniest man she had ever met in her entire life. And at that moment, something inside her told her with absolute certainty, that this was the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with.

She hugged him fiercely to her, burying her head in his broad chest.

"Oh, Ned. I've always loved you! I'm just so happy you feel the same for me!" Sally whispered emotion threatening to overtake her.

"I love you too, Sal. That's what I was trying to tell you." he spoke softly nuzzling the top of her head.

A quiet sob escaped her as she gripped him tighter.

"And there was something else I wanted to ask you." Ned said quietly hugging her close.

"What?" Sally asked snuggling in closer to him.

"Will you marry me?"

Sally's eyes shot open. She felt frozen and suddenly very speechless. She could feel his heart pounding. Or was it her own? She could not believe what she was hearing! Did he really say it? Did he actually say those four simple words she'd been longing to hear for years?

"Sally?" Ned asked, concern in his voice at her silence.

Sally pushed off of him to look him straight in the eyes. Her whole body felt hot as she felt a large smile tug at the corner of her mouth as he looked up at her hopefully.

"Oh Ned! Of course I will! Yes! Yes! I will marry you!" Sally laughed, throwing her arms back around him in a crushing hug and kissing him again.

The distant sound of the city hall bells echoed faintly up the hill causing the two to suddenly stop in their rejoicing, reality once again intruding on the moment.

"Oh my gosh, the ceremony!" Sally gasped as she looked over her shoulder in the direction of the small town lying far below them.

"Oh no! I'm late! Dad's gonna kill me!" Ned shouted scrambling to his feet in a panic.

"Ned!" Sally shouted after him as he ran down the hill.

"I'm sorry Sally! I've got to go!" Ned shouted over his shoulder giving her an apologetic smile as he ran off.

"Okay. Good luck!" Sally sighed deeply, still smiling fondly as she pictured a disheveled Ned rushing into the mayor's office of Who Hall, grinning sheepishly at his father's slightly disapproving frown on his mustached face, not surprised at all his son was late.

She chuckled quietly, twirling a small clover between her fingers, wondering why he hadn't asked her sooner.

_Fin_

**A/N: Okay, so this isn't my best work but I decided to post it anyway. I may clean it up in the future since my writing style has improved _a lot_ since I wrote this one and I'm still not entirely satisfied with how this turned out. Drop me a review and let me know what you think! **


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